EAM Jaishankar to attend SCO's Council of Foreign Ministers meet in Moscow

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be attending meeting of Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to be held in Moscow on September 9 and 10, ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. This will be third CFM meeting that India will be attending as a full member of SCO. Earlier, two meetings were held in Beijing and Bishkek in 2018 and 2019 respectively, ministry said.

"India has been taking an active part in various SCO dialogue mechanisms under Chairmanship of Russian Federation in this year. SCO summit will be held in near future. CFM meeting in Moscow will review preparations for forthcoming SCO summit and also exchange views on international and regional issues," statement said. External Affairs Minister's visit in Moscow will include participation in Council of SCO Foreign Ministers and or bilateral meetings, it added.

Foreign Minister's meeting comes at a time when tensions along LAC have flared up with China and Jaishankar is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. Jaishankar's trip to Moscow comes days after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Russian capital to attend a meeting of SCO Defence Ministers.

Rajnath Singh met his Chinese counterpart 

On Friday, Singh held an over two-hour meeting with Chinese Defence Minister Gen Wei Fenghe on escalating border row between two countries in eastern Ladakh. In talks, Singh categorically told Wei that India will t "cede an inch of land" and is determined to protect integrity and sovereignty of country at "all cost.

An official statement said that Singh conveyed to his Chinese counterpart that China must strictly respect Line of Actual Control (LAC) and t make attempts to unilaterally change its status quo. Both Jaishankar and Wang are expected to hold a bilateral meeting on Thursday, PTI quoted people familiar with developments as saying.

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India-China LAC standoff 

two Foreign Ministers held a telephonic conversation on June 17 during which both sides agreed that overall situation would be handled in a responsible manner. talks took place two days after Galwan Valley clashes in which 20 Indian Army personnel were killed. clashes escalated tensions manifold.

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Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out details. According to an American intelligence report, number of casualties on Chinese side was 35. Tensions flared up again in eastern Ladakh after China unsuccessfully attempted to occupy Indian territory in sourn bank of Pangong lake a week back when two sides were engd in diplomatic and military talks to resolve prolonged border row.

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India occupied a number of strategic heights on sourn bank of Pangong lake and strengned its presence in Finger 2 and Finger 3 areas in region to thwart any Chinese actions. China has strongly objected to India's move. However, India has maintained that heights are on its side of LAC.

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(With ncy inputs)